By Linette Lai, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
The future of food, medicine and digital technology will form the backbone of long-term research plans to keep Singapore competitive, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said yesterday.
But these goals will not be at the expense of basic research, which takes longer to bear fruit, he said as he gave an update on Singapore's research progress and future plans.
Mr Heng, who chairs the National Research Foundation, announced that over $700 million will go into the three areas.
He was speaking to reporters after the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) Council meeting, together with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who chairs the council, and fellow council members Chan Chun Sing and Lawrence Wong.
Digital capabilities will get a large chunk: Over $500 million will be set aside to build up artificial intelligence systems and meet national cyber-security needs. The sum will also boost Singapore's supercomputing capabilities and fund the deployment of robots and automation.
Another $80 million will go towards ramping up cell manufacturing capabilities for cell therapy - hailed as the future of medicine.
And $144 million will be invested in food research, including urban farming and lab-grown meat.
But these goals will not be at the expense of basic research, which takes longer to bear fruit, he said as he gave an update on Singapore's research progress and future plans.
Mr Heng, who chairs the National Research Foundation, announced that over $700 million will go into the three areas.
He was speaking to reporters after the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) Council meeting, together with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who chairs the council, and fellow council members Chan Chun Sing and Lawrence Wong.
Digital capabilities will get a large chunk: Over $500 million will be set aside to build up artificial intelligence systems and meet national cyber-security needs. The sum will also boost Singapore's supercomputing capabilities and fund the deployment of robots and automation.
Another $80 million will go towards ramping up cell manufacturing capabilities for cell therapy - hailed as the future of medicine.
And $144 million will be invested in food research, including urban farming and lab-grown meat.
The funds are part of $19 billion that was budgeted in 2016, under the RIE2020 plan for Singapore's science and technology research over the next five years. Food, healthcare and the digital economy were earmarked as research targets following a mid-term review of the plan.
PM Lee said success will depend on three factors: Singapore must continue to emphasise science and technology in society, develop a strong core of talent, and build partnerships with foreign countries and institutions to pool expertise and take on more ambitious projects.
"We cannot afford to have people fearful and distrustful of science and held captive by totally groundless anti-scientific beliefs," he said.
Speaking on manufacturing's changed nature, Mr Chan, the Trade and Industry Minister, said: "Our ability to position ourselves carefully in various niche areas across the entire global value chain will be critical to our competitiveness."
Mr Wong, Minister for National Development, said Singapore can develop urban solutions and be, for companies, "a living laboratory to pilot, test-bed and eventually scale up their solutions".
"We cannot afford to have people fearful and distrustful of science and held captive by totally groundless anti-scientific beliefs," he said.
Speaking on manufacturing's changed nature, Mr Chan, the Trade and Industry Minister, said: "Our ability to position ourselves carefully in various niche areas across the entire global value chain will be critical to our competitiveness."
Mr Wong, Minister for National Development, said Singapore can develop urban solutions and be, for companies, "a living laboratory to pilot, test-bed and eventually scale up their solutions".
11th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC)
PM Lee Hsien Loong: Singapore remains committed to basic research
By Linette Lai, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
Singapore remains committed to basic research even as it places more attention on innovation and enterprise, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.
"You must keep a balance between basic research, which has long-term yields... and the innovation and enterprise parts, which are more focused on economic returns," he said.
Mr Lee, who was speaking to reporters at a press conference after the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) Council meeting yesterday, added: "The spending on basic research has remained steady."
Summing up Singapore's research efforts to date, he said that it is timely to review what has been done and see if adjustments have to be made.
"It could be a shift between different sectors of research. It could be a shift of emphasis within a sector of research - which activities to put more resources on, which activities need to be scaled back," he said.
The RIE Council was set up in 2006 to chart the direction for Singapore's research and development. It includes Cabinet ministers as well as local and foreign members of the business, science and technology communities. In 2016, $19 billion was set aside under the RIE 2020 plan for Singapore's science and technology research over the next five years.
Yesterday, PM Lee also spoke on the importance of striking the right tone for research partnerships between the public and private sectors. The Government does not want to take an approach where it sets out detailed specifications and guidelines for what it wants companies to achieve, he said.
"You are to prove this and develop this... and then you put in a bid. The question is fixed beforehand and the answer comes later on. When it comes to research and development, which is a more open-ended and uncertain exercise, probably this is not the best way to do it," he added.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who chairs the National Research Foundation, said the private sector's expenditure on research and development has grown as a percentage of the country's gross domestic product. But he hopes more companies will step up their research and innovation efforts.
PM Lee Hsien Loong: Singapore remains committed to basic research
By Linette Lai, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
"You must keep a balance between basic research, which has long-term yields... and the innovation and enterprise parts, which are more focused on economic returns," he said.
Mr Lee, who was speaking to reporters at a press conference after the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) Council meeting yesterday, added: "The spending on basic research has remained steady."
Summing up Singapore's research efforts to date, he said that it is timely to review what has been done and see if adjustments have to be made.
"It could be a shift between different sectors of research. It could be a shift of emphasis within a sector of research - which activities to put more resources on, which activities need to be scaled back," he said.
The RIE Council was set up in 2006 to chart the direction for Singapore's research and development. It includes Cabinet ministers as well as local and foreign members of the business, science and technology communities. In 2016, $19 billion was set aside under the RIE 2020 plan for Singapore's science and technology research over the next five years.
Yesterday, PM Lee also spoke on the importance of striking the right tone for research partnerships between the public and private sectors. The Government does not want to take an approach where it sets out detailed specifications and guidelines for what it wants companies to achieve, he said.
"You are to prove this and develop this... and then you put in a bid. The question is fixed beforehand and the answer comes later on. When it comes to research and development, which is a more open-ended and uncertain exercise, probably this is not the best way to do it," he added.
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who chairs the National Research Foundation, said the private sector's expenditure on research and development has grown as a percentage of the country's gross domestic product. But he hopes more companies will step up their research and innovation efforts.
"In Budget 2019, we talked about how we can help companies to grow capabilities so that they can compete better. An important aspect of growing capability is the ability to leverage technology," he said.
PM Lee said the country had to continue to ignite passion among its young to pursue careers in science and technology, and inculcate in them a mindset that embraces scientific, objective, evidence-based decision-making. This rational ethos must be shared by schools, companies, public agencies and the population at large, he said, adding that such a conducive social environment is key for good scientific work that Singaporeans benefit from.
"We cannot afford to have people who are fearful and distrustful of science, or who are held captive by totally groundless anti-scientific beliefs," he said, citing how elsewhere, anti-vaxxers refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated against life-threatening diseases.
He noted that Singapore had more than 35,000 research scientists and engineers in 2017, seven in 10 of whom were either citizens or permanent residents. And as far as such scientific talent is concerned, "our doors are wide open", he said.
"We are talking about maybe hundreds of people, maybe a couple of thousand people," he added. "If we give the impression that we are not open and we don't welcome talent, and that we are closing in, I think it will be a lot of harm."
PM Lee said the country had to continue to ignite passion among its young to pursue careers in science and technology, and inculcate in them a mindset that embraces scientific, objective, evidence-based decision-making. This rational ethos must be shared by schools, companies, public agencies and the population at large, he said, adding that such a conducive social environment is key for good scientific work that Singaporeans benefit from.
"We cannot afford to have people who are fearful and distrustful of science, or who are held captive by totally groundless anti-scientific beliefs," he said, citing how elsewhere, anti-vaxxers refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated against life-threatening diseases.
He noted that Singapore had more than 35,000 research scientists and engineers in 2017, seven in 10 of whom were either citizens or permanent residents. And as far as such scientific talent is concerned, "our doors are wide open", he said.
"We are talking about maybe hundreds of people, maybe a couple of thousand people," he added. "If we give the impression that we are not open and we don't welcome talent, and that we are closing in, I think it will be a lot of harm."
$540 million kitty to spur medical advances using AI, robotics
Research fund top-up will deepen nation's expertise in digital tech and automation
By Irene Tham, Senior Tech Correspondent, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
A national research fund will set aside an additional $540 million for the creation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems to identify patients predisposed to chronic diseases like diabetes, as well as to build robots to perform menial tasks and develop wearable sensors to provide early intervention for heart failure.
The financial boost will also lead to the development of other projects that will deepen the nation's expertise in digital technologies and automation through the fund called the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 Plan.
The five-year fund, which was first announced in 2016, is managed by the National Research Foundation (NRF).
With the $540 million top-up, the $19 billion fund will now see a total of $900 million allocated to research and development in fields like AI, robotics and supercomputers.
The funding boost was announced at the 11th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council meeting yesterday, with council members taking stock of the progress on the fund's aim to support R&D in Singapore.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who chaired the meeting, said the council affirmed Singapore is on the right path.
"But we are sharpening our focus and making adjustments to the plans," he said.
"We must and will continue to invest in science, technology and innovation... to keep Singapore competitive and relevant globally."
With Singapore's elderly population rising and its workforce growth slowing - from 4 per cent per year to 1 per cent per year by 2020 - robots and AI are expected to become increasingly valuable in industries such as food preparation, cleaning and precision engineering.
For example, robots can work without tiring and be programmed to complete tasks with precision and consistency - qualities that are highly valued in those industries.
The NRF is supporting a number of projects, including Speedcargo, an AI software that takes digital images of cargo packages and plans how the packages should be packed to optimise space.
Speedcargo is currently being used at Changi Airfreight Terminal to make air cargo management smarter.
The system was created by Singapore-based research organisation TUMCreate. Founded in 2010, it is staffed by researchers from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
Besides NRF-supported projects, the AI push has seen researchers collaborating on a number of initiatives, including one that involves a handheld acoustic sensor which looks like a stethoscope.
Research fund top-up will deepen nation's expertise in digital tech and automation
By Irene Tham, Senior Tech Correspondent, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
A national research fund will set aside an additional $540 million for the creation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems to identify patients predisposed to chronic diseases like diabetes, as well as to build robots to perform menial tasks and develop wearable sensors to provide early intervention for heart failure.
The financial boost will also lead to the development of other projects that will deepen the nation's expertise in digital technologies and automation through the fund called the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 Plan.
The five-year fund, which was first announced in 2016, is managed by the National Research Foundation (NRF).
With the $540 million top-up, the $19 billion fund will now see a total of $900 million allocated to research and development in fields like AI, robotics and supercomputers.
The funding boost was announced at the 11th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council meeting yesterday, with council members taking stock of the progress on the fund's aim to support R&D in Singapore.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who chaired the meeting, said the council affirmed Singapore is on the right path.
"But we are sharpening our focus and making adjustments to the plans," he said.
"We must and will continue to invest in science, technology and innovation... to keep Singapore competitive and relevant globally."
With Singapore's elderly population rising and its workforce growth slowing - from 4 per cent per year to 1 per cent per year by 2020 - robots and AI are expected to become increasingly valuable in industries such as food preparation, cleaning and precision engineering.
For example, robots can work without tiring and be programmed to complete tasks with precision and consistency - qualities that are highly valued in those industries.
The NRF is supporting a number of projects, including Speedcargo, an AI software that takes digital images of cargo packages and plans how the packages should be packed to optimise space.
Speedcargo is currently being used at Changi Airfreight Terminal to make air cargo management smarter.
The system was created by Singapore-based research organisation TUMCreate. Founded in 2010, it is staffed by researchers from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
Besides NRF-supported projects, the AI push has seen researchers collaborating on a number of initiatives, including one that involves a handheld acoustic sensor which looks like a stethoscope.
When it is placed on a patient's chest and paired with a smartphone app, the device can detect excess fluid in the lungs - a cause of breathlessness.
Within 10 seconds, an AI algorithm determines whether the patient's lungs are clear or whether fluid is accumulating inside them.
The prototype has been developed over a decade by a team from NTU and Tan Tock Seng Hospital and has achieved an accuracy rate of more than 92 per cent, according to Associate Professor Ser Wee of NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
This was based on a study of 86 patients from the hospital from 2012 to 2015.
The team has filed a patent for the device, which is being developed for the mass market.
The prototype has been developed over a decade by a team from NTU and Tan Tock Seng Hospital and has achieved an accuracy rate of more than 92 per cent, according to Associate Professor Ser Wee of NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
This was based on a study of 86 patients from the hospital from 2012 to 2015.
The team has filed a patent for the device, which is being developed for the mass market.
$80 million boost to turn manufacture of cells into a big money-spinner
By Chang Ai-Lien, Science Editor, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
Cell therapy, where living cells are harnessed to treat or prevent disease, is hailed as the future of medicine. But the bottleneck is in producing good-quality cells cost-effectively and in large quantities.
Singapore, leveraging on its strong biopharmaceutical manufacturing base and its early lead in stem cell research, has earmarked cell manufacturing as its next big money-spinner.
Dr Benjamin Seet, executive director of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*Star) Biomedical Research Council, said: "Around the world, there are relatively limited concerted efforts in scaling up cell production and ensuring quality of the final product. We have the opportunity to invest aggressively in this space, with the end-goal of growing our biopharmaceutical manufacturing pie."
Biopharmaceutical manufacturing, which is the production of small molecule drugs and biologics such as proteins, is an important sector for Singapore, contributing about 4 per cent of gross domestic product and employing more than 7,700 highly skilled workers. Last year, it generated $15.7 billion in manufacturing output and $9.4 billion value-add.
To replicate the success in cell manufacturing would call for advanced technologies and techniques, said A*Star.
So $80 million is going into programmes to scale up, deepen understanding of cell attributes relating to safety and efficacy, and developing technology to assess product quality during manufacturing.
Dr Seet said: "These are living cells, not chemical compounds. We have to ensure we keep them alive and functional."
In cell therapy, intact living cells are injected, grafted or implanted into a patient to restore tissue or organ function, or fight diseases such as cancer, for instance.
The handful of local companies doing such research will get a boost from the effort.
Biotech firm CellResearch Corporation, which is worth $700 million and has 44 patents, is among the home-grown firms that are pioneers in cell therapy. It has developed a stem cell treatment that can potentially heal wounds such as diabetic ulcers quickly, doing away with the need for skin grafts. It has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration to test its treatment on patients, with clinical trials starting this year.
A CellResearch spokesman said: "We want to take advantage of Singapore's efforts and tap the facilities it is building as a potential source of stem cells." This will contribute to the firm's long-term aim of building a plant here to produce medical grade stem cells, he added.
By Chang Ai-Lien, Science Editor, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
Cell therapy, where living cells are harnessed to treat or prevent disease, is hailed as the future of medicine. But the bottleneck is in producing good-quality cells cost-effectively and in large quantities.
Singapore, leveraging on its strong biopharmaceutical manufacturing base and its early lead in stem cell research, has earmarked cell manufacturing as its next big money-spinner.
Dr Benjamin Seet, executive director of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*Star) Biomedical Research Council, said: "Around the world, there are relatively limited concerted efforts in scaling up cell production and ensuring quality of the final product. We have the opportunity to invest aggressively in this space, with the end-goal of growing our biopharmaceutical manufacturing pie."
Biopharmaceutical manufacturing, which is the production of small molecule drugs and biologics such as proteins, is an important sector for Singapore, contributing about 4 per cent of gross domestic product and employing more than 7,700 highly skilled workers. Last year, it generated $15.7 billion in manufacturing output and $9.4 billion value-add.
To replicate the success in cell manufacturing would call for advanced technologies and techniques, said A*Star.
So $80 million is going into programmes to scale up, deepen understanding of cell attributes relating to safety and efficacy, and developing technology to assess product quality during manufacturing.
Dr Seet said: "These are living cells, not chemical compounds. We have to ensure we keep them alive and functional."
In cell therapy, intact living cells are injected, grafted or implanted into a patient to restore tissue or organ function, or fight diseases such as cancer, for instance.
The handful of local companies doing such research will get a boost from the effort.
Biotech firm CellResearch Corporation, which is worth $700 million and has 44 patents, is among the home-grown firms that are pioneers in cell therapy. It has developed a stem cell treatment that can potentially heal wounds such as diabetic ulcers quickly, doing away with the need for skin grafts. It has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration to test its treatment on patients, with clinical trials starting this year.
A CellResearch spokesman said: "We want to take advantage of Singapore's efforts and tap the facilities it is building as a potential source of stem cells." This will contribute to the firm's long-term aim of building a plant here to produce medical grade stem cells, he added.
Beefing up efforts to grow meat in labs
Firms are working on culturing stem cells from chickens, cows and fish to make meat
By Shabana Begum, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
It is clean, has a low carbon footprint and does not involve any killing. Lab-grown meat is a key protein alternative of the future and could be making its way to dinner plates here, as Singapore ramps up production of home-grown food.
The effort is getting a boost from the Government's Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 plan, under which $144 million is going into food-related research, including sustainable urban food production, future foods and food safety science and innovation.
To make meat, stem cells extracted from chickens, cows, fish and pigs will be grown and multiplied in bioreactors, and eventually undergo tissue engineering to make whole meat cuts, say researchers.
Leveraging its existing technology in bioproduction and stem cell bioengineering, A*Star's (the Agency for Science, Technology and Research) Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) has started trials on culturing meat, which will be grown on a large scale in bioreactors. Eventually, the cells will comprise at most half of the meat, with the rest made up of bulking agents such as starch and other ingredients to improve taste and texture.
But its nutritional value will be similar to that of traditional meat, said Dr Kelvin Ng, head of strategic innovation at BTI.
At the end of the year, he hopes to start making chicken meat in a lab by reaching out to local farms to extract cells from live chickens.
Other biotech firms here are also culturing cells for food. Local start-up Shiok Meats, for instance, is working on growing seafood in labs.
To reduce its reliance on imports and cushion itself against overseas supply disruptions, Singapore has the ambitious target of producing 30 per cent of the food needed here by 2030. By that time, Dr Ng predicts, lab-grown mince could already be on the market.
"Cultured meat products like minced meat or meat fillings are also easier to develop than a slice of beef steak or chicken fillet, which would require additional technology to create the texture, mouth-feel and taste that consumers are looking for," he said.
One of BTI's key goals is to make alternative meats affordable. Cultured meat is expensive now because the culture media used to feed the cells are costly.
But as technology improves, prices have been dropping. In 2013, 1kg of cultured meat cost US$2.4 million to produce. Four years later, the price dropped to US$5,000 and, more recently, it has fallen to about US$11 (S$14.90) for a meat patty, said Dr Ng.
"One approach is to develop food-grade equivalents of culture media, which would reduce costs substantially," he said.
"Another approach is to explore alternative raw materials, such as plant and microbial extracts, or adopt more efficient manufacturing approaches like continuous bioprocessing or recycling culture media."
A*Star also employs other ways to create alternative proteins in the lab.
Its Biotransformation Innovation Platform (BioTrans) feeds microorganisms such as yeast into large-scale bioreactors to convert the sugar into proteins that can be formulated into various food products, such as milk and egg whites.
The proteins can also be used as speciality feed for fish and livestock.
Biotrans also used microbes to produce more than 20 natural-based flavours, fragrances and ingredients such as lavender, citrus and peach.
Firms are working on culturing stem cells from chickens, cows and fish to make meat
By Shabana Begum, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
It is clean, has a low carbon footprint and does not involve any killing. Lab-grown meat is a key protein alternative of the future and could be making its way to dinner plates here, as Singapore ramps up production of home-grown food.
The effort is getting a boost from the Government's Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 plan, under which $144 million is going into food-related research, including sustainable urban food production, future foods and food safety science and innovation.
To make meat, stem cells extracted from chickens, cows, fish and pigs will be grown and multiplied in bioreactors, and eventually undergo tissue engineering to make whole meat cuts, say researchers.
Leveraging its existing technology in bioproduction and stem cell bioengineering, A*Star's (the Agency for Science, Technology and Research) Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) has started trials on culturing meat, which will be grown on a large scale in bioreactors. Eventually, the cells will comprise at most half of the meat, with the rest made up of bulking agents such as starch and other ingredients to improve taste and texture.
But its nutritional value will be similar to that of traditional meat, said Dr Kelvin Ng, head of strategic innovation at BTI.
At the end of the year, he hopes to start making chicken meat in a lab by reaching out to local farms to extract cells from live chickens.
Other biotech firms here are also culturing cells for food. Local start-up Shiok Meats, for instance, is working on growing seafood in labs.
To reduce its reliance on imports and cushion itself against overseas supply disruptions, Singapore has the ambitious target of producing 30 per cent of the food needed here by 2030. By that time, Dr Ng predicts, lab-grown mince could already be on the market.
"Cultured meat products like minced meat or meat fillings are also easier to develop than a slice of beef steak or chicken fillet, which would require additional technology to create the texture, mouth-feel and taste that consumers are looking for," he said.
One of BTI's key goals is to make alternative meats affordable. Cultured meat is expensive now because the culture media used to feed the cells are costly.
But as technology improves, prices have been dropping. In 2013, 1kg of cultured meat cost US$2.4 million to produce. Four years later, the price dropped to US$5,000 and, more recently, it has fallen to about US$11 (S$14.90) for a meat patty, said Dr Ng.
"One approach is to develop food-grade equivalents of culture media, which would reduce costs substantially," he said.
"Another approach is to explore alternative raw materials, such as plant and microbial extracts, or adopt more efficient manufacturing approaches like continuous bioprocessing or recycling culture media."
A*Star also employs other ways to create alternative proteins in the lab.
Its Biotransformation Innovation Platform (BioTrans) feeds microorganisms such as yeast into large-scale bioreactors to convert the sugar into proteins that can be formulated into various food products, such as milk and egg whites.
The proteins can also be used as speciality feed for fish and livestock.
Biotrans also used microbes to produce more than 20 natural-based flavours, fragrances and ingredients such as lavender, citrus and peach.
Nanotubes transform vegetable genes for more resilient crops
By Shabana Begum, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
In a quiet corner of the National University of Singapore (NUS), scientists are creating the next generation of supercrops that can survive drought and withstand high temperatures.They will also be disease-resistant and grow well in low light intensity.
To develop these traits in crops, their genes must be enhanced.
Scientists in Singapore have invented a novel nanotube carrier that can be absorbed by the leaf to transform the genes in a cell component at a faster rate. Depending on the DNA inserted into the carrier, it can improve the crop's traits and resistance to disease.
Since the carrier targets only the leaf's chloroplast - the component that enables photosynthesis - and not the nucleus, the crop's natural hereditary genetics are not altered.
Currently, scientists use gene guns to shoot DNA into leaves. This damages the leaves and may not target the correct gene.
With the carrier's accuracy in targeting the chloroplast, gene transformation is faster, allowing crops to develop the desired traits quickly.
The nanotube carrier was developed by scientists at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart) at the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise in NUS.
Professor Michael Strano, lead principal investigator of the Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision research body at Smart, said: "This new tool should reduce the work and time needed to engineer plants for human use. Scientists and farmers alike will benefit from a carrier that can access the chloroplast and do so across many different plant species."
The nanotubes can successfully reach chloroplasts in species such as spinach, watercress and arugula.
By Shabana Begum, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
To develop these traits in crops, their genes must be enhanced.
Scientists in Singapore have invented a novel nanotube carrier that can be absorbed by the leaf to transform the genes in a cell component at a faster rate. Depending on the DNA inserted into the carrier, it can improve the crop's traits and resistance to disease.
Since the carrier targets only the leaf's chloroplast - the component that enables photosynthesis - and not the nucleus, the crop's natural hereditary genetics are not altered.
Currently, scientists use gene guns to shoot DNA into leaves. This damages the leaves and may not target the correct gene.
With the carrier's accuracy in targeting the chloroplast, gene transformation is faster, allowing crops to develop the desired traits quickly.
The nanotube carrier was developed by scientists at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart) at the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise in NUS.
Professor Michael Strano, lead principal investigator of the Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision research body at Smart, said: "This new tool should reduce the work and time needed to engineer plants for human use. Scientists and farmers alike will benefit from a carrier that can access the chloroplast and do so across many different plant species."
The nanotubes can successfully reach chloroplasts in species such as spinach, watercress and arugula.
Smart will work with Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) to decide on the specific genes that should be transformed for each crop.
Smart and TLL's research complements the early high-tech farming here to make Singapore self-sufficient in producing high-quality vegetables. TLL also created the hardy, locally grown, climate resistant Temasek Rice that hit stores in 2016.
Since 2017, a research team in TLL has been carrying out a vegetable breeding programme in its quest to produce crops that grow optimally in indoor farming conditions, such as low light intensity.
For instance, as stacks of LED lights in vertical farms are costly, farmers tend not to maximise the brightness to save on utility bills. Under lower light intensity, choy sum plants have smaller leaves and longer stems to reach the light source.
Through gene editing, TLL researchers are transforming a particular DNA in the vegetables so that they will produce bigger leaves and grow well in less light.
This programme will take a few years to produce high-performing crops, as cross-breeding generations of crops takes time. It takes three to four months for a choy sum plant to flower and produce seeds.
Smart and TLL's research complements the early high-tech farming here to make Singapore self-sufficient in producing high-quality vegetables. TLL also created the hardy, locally grown, climate resistant Temasek Rice that hit stores in 2016.
Since 2017, a research team in TLL has been carrying out a vegetable breeding programme in its quest to produce crops that grow optimally in indoor farming conditions, such as low light intensity.
For instance, as stacks of LED lights in vertical farms are costly, farmers tend not to maximise the brightness to save on utility bills. Under lower light intensity, choy sum plants have smaller leaves and longer stems to reach the light source.
Through gene editing, TLL researchers are transforming a particular DNA in the vegetables so that they will produce bigger leaves and grow well in less light.
This programme will take a few years to produce high-performing crops, as cross-breeding generations of crops takes time. It takes three to four months for a choy sum plant to flower and produce seeds.
Superfish being bred to ramp up locally produced protein
By Shabana Begum, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
Scientists here are breeding tough, fast-growing superfish that have extra amounts of healthy fat in efforts to produce more local, high-quality protein.
The "premium tilapia" are also disease-resistant and rich in Omega-3, and are being bred in Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL).
The tilapia will join the ranks of locally produced fish stock - TLL-bred sea bass and barramundi, developed by Barramundi Asia.
Scientists say a small country vulnerable to food disruption needs high-tech and high-intensity fish farming to help it be self-sufficient in producing its own food.
Last year, only 9 per cent of all the fish eaten in Singapore were produced locally.
To develop the superfish, the lab has been collaborating with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority on improving the yield and quality of tilapia through selective breeding.
Researchers from the lab identify and mate the best fish, also known as the brood stock, to produce schools of tilapia that inherit the superior traits.
Since Asian consumers prefer red tilapia, selective breeding also transfers the desired appearance to the offspring. The lab has a mix of red and grey-coloured fish.
Currently, the team is working on improving the resilience of the fish so that they can thrive in crowded fish farms and adapt to seawater.
"Tilapia is a traditional brackish-water or freshwater fish. In Singapore, we don't have much freshwater sources.
"But we have a lot of coastal lines, so we are working on adapting our tilapia to grow in seawater," said Dr Liew Woei Chang, research investigator at TLL.
TLL is also currently using a sex-reversal method to produce all-male tilapia as the male fish grow twice as fast as the female ones. The lab said more male fish will also prevent unwanted breeding.
Some of the "premium tilapia" have been sent to local fish farms to assess their performance and ability to withstand stress.
"In the wild, the fishes have a lot of space to swim. So, growing in a high density environment can be stressful for them.
"High stress conditions will make them more susceptible to diseases," added Dr Liew.
The tilapia breeding programme started in 2011, and TLL is hoping to commercialise the fish in the coming years.
It took 15 years for sea bass developed at the Marine Aquaculture Centre on St John's Island to reach farms for mass production last year.
By Shabana Begum, The Straits Times, 28 Mar 2019
The "premium tilapia" are also disease-resistant and rich in Omega-3, and are being bred in Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL).
The tilapia will join the ranks of locally produced fish stock - TLL-bred sea bass and barramundi, developed by Barramundi Asia.
Scientists say a small country vulnerable to food disruption needs high-tech and high-intensity fish farming to help it be self-sufficient in producing its own food.
Last year, only 9 per cent of all the fish eaten in Singapore were produced locally.
To develop the superfish, the lab has been collaborating with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority on improving the yield and quality of tilapia through selective breeding.
Researchers from the lab identify and mate the best fish, also known as the brood stock, to produce schools of tilapia that inherit the superior traits.
Since Asian consumers prefer red tilapia, selective breeding also transfers the desired appearance to the offspring. The lab has a mix of red and grey-coloured fish.
Currently, the team is working on improving the resilience of the fish so that they can thrive in crowded fish farms and adapt to seawater.
"Tilapia is a traditional brackish-water or freshwater fish. In Singapore, we don't have much freshwater sources.
"But we have a lot of coastal lines, so we are working on adapting our tilapia to grow in seawater," said Dr Liew Woei Chang, research investigator at TLL.
TLL is also currently using a sex-reversal method to produce all-male tilapia as the male fish grow twice as fast as the female ones. The lab said more male fish will also prevent unwanted breeding.
Some of the "premium tilapia" have been sent to local fish farms to assess their performance and ability to withstand stress.
"In the wild, the fishes have a lot of space to swim. So, growing in a high density environment can be stressful for them.
"High stress conditions will make them more susceptible to diseases," added Dr Liew.
The tilapia breeding programme started in 2011, and TLL is hoping to commercialise the fish in the coming years.
It took 15 years for sea bass developed at the Marine Aquaculture Centre on St John's Island to reach farms for mass production last year.
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